The actor opened up about the similarities between artificial intelligence in the iconic film franchise and life in the present day
Arnold Schwarzenegger is marveling at the genius of the Terminator films.
Speaking at An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the actor, 75, praised the franchise’s writer and director James Cameron and said the future of artificial intelligence Cameron predicted in the movies has “become a reality.”
“Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go,” Schwarzenegger said of current concerns around AI. “And in this movie, in Terminator, we talk about the machines becoming self-aware and they take over,”
The actor celebrated the “brilliance of writing” in the 1984 sci-fi flick — which he starred in as a cyborg assassin — given that “at that time we (had) scratched the surface of AI, artificial intelligence. Think about that.”
“Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality. So it’s not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron,” Schwarzenegger continued in the on-stage conversation, which was to promote his limited edition TASCHEN photo book.
The former bodybuilder added of Cameron, 68, “He’s just such an extraordinary writer and he’s such an unbelievable director, this is again, one of those things that I wish I could take credit for this movie. I can only take credit of the character that I played and the way I played it. But I mean, he has created this character. He has written it so well, he’s written the movie so well, and that’s why he is, you know, the number one director in the world.”
Last month, Schwarzenegger revealed how his iconic “I’ll be back” line from the action franchise nearly never happened, but it was Cameron who convinced him to say it.
“[James] Cameron and I were debating how to say the line because I was not comfortable with saying ‘I’ll,’ ” Schwarzenegger recalled of their conversation during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I said, ‘I think it’s stronger to say, ‘I will be back.’ ”
According to the former California governor, Cameron replied, “Are you the scriptwriter now? It’s just one word. Don’t tell me how to write. I don’t tell you how to act.” Schwarzenegger said he shot back at Cameron saying how he told him how to act “every f—— minute!”
Taking a different approach, Cameron — who also directed Titanic and Avatar — explained himself. “Arnold, you think it sounds weird. It doesn’t. What makes it great is that you sound different than me or Charlie over there. That’s what makes it work.”
He told him, “Just say it 10 times. Say it different ways. I’ll keep rolling the camera. Then we’ll choose one.”
“So they set it up, and I say: ‘(Flatly) I’ll be back … (cheerful) I’ll be back! … (guttural) I’ll beeee baaaack …’ ” Schwarzenegger recounted. “It sounded stupid.”
But of course, fans thought the famous line was far from stupid and its popularity was almost instant. “The movies comes out. I’m in Central Park. This guy comes up and says, ‘Say the line!’ ” he told THR.
